Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) Shares Sold by Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Essential Utilities, Inc. (NYSE:WTRG) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 49,508 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,234 shares during the period. Essential Utilities accounts for 1.7% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Essential Utilities were worth $1,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in Essential Utilities by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 27,186 shares of the company’s stock worth $987,000 after acquiring an additional 1,613 shares in the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the fourth quarter valued at $291,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Essential Utilities by 8.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,061,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,091,820,000 after buying an additional 2,245,256 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Essential Utilities by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 288,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,477,000 after purchasing an additional 10,941 shares during the period. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Essential Utilities in the 4th quarter valued at about $8,143,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.78% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WTRG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Essential Utilities from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Essential Utilities from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Essential Utilities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $41.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.50.

Essential Utilities Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE WTRG opened at $37.94 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $10.43 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.55. Essential Utilities, Inc. has a twelve month low of $33.18 and a twelve month high of $41.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.81.

Essential Utilities (NYSE:WTRG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.66 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $604.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $698.77 million. Essential Utilities had a net margin of 27.84% and a return on equity of 7.89%. On average, research analysts forecast that Essential Utilities, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Essential Utilities Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.3255 per share. This represents a $1.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. Essential Utilities’s dividend payout ratio is 59.91%.

Essential Utilities Profile

Essential Utilities, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates regulated utilities that provide water, wastewater, or natural gas services in the United States. The company operates through Regulated Water and Regulated Natural Gas segments. It offers water services through operating and maintenance contract with municipal authorities and other parties.